[Fe/H] 0.030±0.080 Discovery status Confirmed | Discovery date 2015 | |
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Discovery site Kepler Space Observatory | ||
K2-22b (also known as EPIC 201637175 b) is an exoplanet 734 ly from Earth, rapidly orbiting the red dwarf K2-22 with an orbital period of 9.145872 hours. It has a mass below 445 Me and a radius below 2.5 Re. The planet was not detected in the K2 photometry. K2 photometry reveals the presence of an anomalous light curve consistent with evaporation of dust from the planet. This dust forms a tail both ahead and behind the planet, similar to some comets in the Solar System. The evaporation of this dust requires a low surface gravity from the host planet, implying it is a low mass, "Mars, Mercury, or even lunar sized bodies with surface gravities of 1/6 to 1/3 that of Earth are to be preferred."
The exoplanet is a hot Jupiter, and it orbits its host star very closely. Its semi-major axis is among the smallest for hot Jupiters.